About

Hello, My name is Zac and I currently serve as the Lead Special Education Specialist for Indianapolis Public High Schools. I was born in Mississippi but grew up in the city of Denver, CO. At the University of Denver, I studied chemistry and physics while working as a University Research Assistant in DU’s Neurodegenerative Diseases lab and engaging in a number of extracurriculars. I was member of the Puksta Foundation, an organization focused on community organizing and service, the President and Founder of DU’s Mental Health Student Organization, MIND, and a NCAA Cheerleader. For my thesis, I studied the effects of Tau protein on neural structures and the connections to Early Onset Alzheimer’s. My work ended up being published in the American Chemical Society’s Biochemical Journal next to the work of my peers.

Upon graduation, I realized that working in a lab was not what I wanted to do with my life, and decided to try out teaching. I was accepted into the Indianapolis Teaching Fellows program and moved to Indiana in May 2016 to begin my Master’s degree. After choosing to support special education in math and science classes, I got my Master’s degree from Marian University in Exceptional Needs Education with an award in Outstanding Achievement in the Work while serving as TOS/TOR in Arsenal Tech’s New Tech magnet.

In 2018, I was promoted to the role of Specialist and moved to George Washington High School where I supported building compliance and improving academic outcomes of Sped students. I later was moved to Tech where I implemented a Sped Coaching cycle with a department goal of improving Culturally Responsive Teaching. I have been serving as the High School Lead Specialist during the 20-21 school year, supporting high schools on their SIPs and RDA Reviews, as well as coaching and leading Specialists in their work and providing coaching to teachers at TECH.